van Nispen Johan A, van Nispen Andrew H, Bettag Jeffery, Giakas Julian A, Connor Patrick, Barqawi Zuhair, Lok Justin, Po Loren, Cahill Anne T, Demos Daniel, Manning Eddie
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Department of Surgery, Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina.
Ann Thorac Surg Short Rep. 2023 Nov 22;2(1):156-160. doi: 10.1016/j.atssr.2023.11.005. eCollection 2024 Mar.
In the United States, medical malpractice bears a significant financial risk associated with surgery, particularly in the field of cardiothoracic surgery. Approximately 18.9% of cardiothoracic surgeons face litigation. We report an analysis of litigation in thoracic surgery.
The Westlaw legal database was used to identify thoracic surgery cases. Search terms were identified for various thoracic procedures. Case characteristics were analyzed.
Medical malpractice in thoracic surgery results in a median payout of $1,183,000 million for plaintiff verdicts and a mean settlement award of $550,000. Outcomes of litigation are variable. Geographic location does not play a significant role in litigation. Thoracic surgeons in New York, California, Florida, and Illinois faced the most lawsuits. Intraoperative or procedural error and inadequate informed consent accounted for 52% of all cases.
Attempts to increase patient understanding and education may be beneficial for reducing litigation. Analysis of why New York, California, and Illinois are highly litigious is warranted. Future analysis would also be useful to evaluate whether advances in techniques, such as robotic or thoracoscopic approaches, are associated with reduced incidence of litigation.
在美国，医疗事故尤其是心胸外科手术领域存在重大财务风险。约18.9%的心胸外科医生面临诉讼。我们报告了一项胸外科诉讼分析。
使用Westlaw法律数据库识别胸外科病例。确定了各种胸外科手术的搜索词。对病例特征进行了分析。
胸外科医疗事故导致原告胜诉的赔偿金中位数为11.83亿美元，和解赔偿平均额为55万美元。诉讼结果各不相同。地理位置在诉讼中不起重要作用。纽约、加利福尼亚、佛罗里达和伊利诺伊州的胸外科医生面临的诉讼最多。术中或手术失误以及知情同意不足占所有病例的52%。
加强患者理解和教育的努力可能有助于减少诉讼。有必要分析纽约、加利福尼亚和伊利诺伊州诉讼率高的原因。未来的分析对于评估机器人或胸腔镜等技术进步是否与诉讼发生率降低相关也将是有用的。
